Kevin Durant assisted in the Warriors' reign by helping Golden State capture two back-to-back championships. He did this with his dominant play which was recognized by consecutive Finals MVP wins. Yet, KD expressed that he never felt like a true warrior. During a conversation with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Golden State's Steph Curry responded to those feelings.
Curry opened up by telling Nichols that KD might have had to adopt this mindset to complete his mental transition to Brooklyn. "I mean, that's tough," Curry said. "There's so many narratives that go on, especially when you're at the top of the league. No matter how, you know, the full transition happens to Brooklyn, him separating himself from the Warriors – that's gonna happen. I think he knows, you know, what we were about as teammates, what we were about as friends on and off the court... But at the end of the day, whatever he, you know, needed to do to make that decision and however he wants to explain that – that's just what's gonna happen."
KD sat down with the Wall Street Journal for a profile about his injury and move to the Nets. In this piece, KD claimed that he never truly felt like a part of Golden State because he didn't make his name in the Bay. Also, he came on board after the team had already won a title.
"I came in there wanting to be part of a group, wanting to be part of a family, and definitely felt accepted," Durant explained. "But I’ll never be one of those guys. I didn’t get drafted there. … Steph Curry, obviously drafted there. Andre Iguodala, won the first Finals, first championship. Klay Thompson, drafted there. Draymond Green, drafted there. And the rest of the guys kind of rehabilitated their careers there. So me? Shit, how you going to rehabilitate me? What you going to teach me? How can you alter anything in my basketball life? I got an MVP already. I got scoring titles."
Despite this, Curry has no hard feeling about KD's decision to leave for Brooklyn. The point guard explained to Nichols that KD made the best move for himself. He's now focused on climbing the mountain without KD and fighting through Thompson's injury.
"At the end of the day, we live in an age where choice at the forefront, and K, you know, made a decision for himself and you can't argue that," Curry explained. "I wish we could still play with K. He's an unbelievable talent, unbelievable person. We accomplished a lot together. But – you know, things have changed a little bit. So you obviously wish him the best, obviously with his recovery first and foremost and things on and off the court. But we're gonna have to battle down the road. So this should be a fun, new experience on that front, too."
In addition to Durant's departure, Curry also made it clear that he will be a member of Team USA when the Summer Olympics begin in 2020.
"Definitely wanna go," Curry said. "I've never been on the Olympic team. I've been on two World Cup championship gold medal teams. But the Olympics is the experience that I want. And next year will hopefully be it."
